TODAY IN HISTORY

THURSDAY APR 28, 2022

1994

Former CIA official Aldrich Ames, who had passed U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union and then Russia, pleaded guilty to espionage and tax evasion, and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

1788

Maryland became the seventh state to ratify the Constitution of the United States.

1945

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, were executed by Italian partisans as they attempted to flee the country.

1947

A six-man expedition set out from Peru aboard a balsa wood raft named the Kontiki on a 101-day journey across the Pacific Ocean to the Polynesian Islands.

1952

War with Japan officially ended as a treaty signed in San Francisco the year before took effect. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower resigned as Supreme Allied commander in Europe; he was succeeded by Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway.

1965

President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered U.S. Marines to the Dominican Republic to protect American citizens and interests in the face of a civil war.

1967

Heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali was stripped of his title after he refused to be inducted into the armed forces.

1980

President Jimmy Carter accepted the resignation of Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance, who had opposed the failed rescue mission aimed at freeing American hostages in Iran.

1986

The Soviet Union informed the world of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl.

1990

The musical “A Chorus Line” closed after 6,137performances on Broadway.

2001

A Russian rocket lifted off from Central Asia bearing the first space tourist, California businessman Dennis Tito, and two cosmonauts on a journey to the international space station.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III is 92. Actor-singer Ann-margret is 81. Actor Paul Guilfoyle is

73. Former “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno is 72. Rock musician Chuck Leavell is

70. Actor Mary Mcdonnell is 70. Rock singer-musician Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth) is 69. Actor Nancy Lee Grahn is 66. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan is 62. Rapper Too Short is 56.